Refrigerating apparatus



Aug-3, 1943.

R. R. CANDOR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 30, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1/ C: c) CD (2) C: a

Aug. 3, 1943.

R. R. CANDOR REFRiGERATING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 30, 1940 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Patented Aug. 3, 1943 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Robert R. Candor, ()akwood, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a. corporation of Delaware Application December 30, 1940, Serial No. 372.226

6 Claims. (Cl. 62-6) This invention relates to refrigeration and more particularly to a refrigerating system in which heat rejected by the condenser is used for reheating the air.

tion. to be conditioned is circulated over the coil .20 by means of a blower 26 arranged within the cabinet Ill. The blower discharges the conditioned air through the outlet 30, which for purposes of illustration has been shown 'as 10- One object of this invention is to provide a cated in the top wall of the casing ID. A motor system in which air to be conditioned is first cir- 32 drives the blower unit 26. The compressor l6 culated over an evaporator and is thereafterciris driven by means of a separate motor 34. culated over a reheat coil through which water A rehea 0 40 a be p o d adjacent from an evaporative condenser may be circuthe. outlet 30 for reheating the conditioned air lated in accordance with reheat requirements whenever reheating is required. Cooling water A further object of. this invention is to prois sprayed over the conden er 4 y mean of th vide means for controlling the temperature of Spray unit 42 at a l t me w en r f e ti i the water in an evaporative condenser.' required. A pump 44, driven by an electric mo- A further .object of this invention is to proor or any ot er a a l Po e Source, vide an improved control arrangement for use withdraws water from the main water sump 48 in an air conditioning system. and discharges the water through the line 50.

Still another object of this invention is to proad ng to th t y l e In the One vide an improved conditioning system which is po of t t ay valve he te s especially well suited for supplying conditioned supplied through the pip 0 and is dis har e air to aplurality of rooms. directly into the line 54 leading to the spray Further objects and advantages of the present unit 42. In the other position of the valve 52, invention will be apparent from the following det e Water supplied to e p p is Caused t0 scription, reference being had to the accompanyflow through the line 56 leading to the reheat ing drawings, wherein a preferred form of the coil 40. The water leaving the reheat coil 40 present invention is clearly shown. flows through theline 58 which connects with s In the drawings: I the line 54 leading to the spray device 42. Con- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in section denser cooling air is circulated in countercurrent showing one embodiment of my invention; relationship to the water spray of the condenser Fig. 2 shows the control circuit suitable for coil i4 by means of the dual blowers 60. The use in a system of the type disclosed in Fig. 1;' condenser cooling air enters the cabinet l2 and through the inlet 62 and is discharged therefrom Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view partly in section through the outlets 64. The amount of air cirshowing a modified form of a refrigerating sys-' culated through the cabinet I2 is controlled by tem embodying my invention. the damper 86, arranged adjacent the air inlet In the preferred embodiment of my invention 62. The damper 66 is in turn controlled by the as shown in Fig. 1, an air conditioning cabinet damper operating motor 68. A certain amount I0 is provided which'isadapted to be mounted of make-up water will be required from time to directly within the enclosure to be conditioned time due to the evaporation of a portion of the or arranged in a duct system for supplying conspray water. Make-up water is supplied through ditioned air to the enclosure. Reference nu the water supply pipe 10. The amount of water meral l2 designates a casing within which is supplied through the pipe 10 is controlled by mounted an, evaporative type of condenser 44. a conventional float control mechanism 12. Ref- Compressed refrigerant is supplied to the conerence numeral I3 designates a condensate drain denser I4 by means of a compressor [6 which line through which the moisture removedby the may be mounted either in the cabinet I! as evaporator 24 is conveyed to thewater sump 48. shown, or in'the cabinet l2. The refrigerant The blowers 80 are operated by means-of an condensed in the condenser l4 collects in the electric motor 14 arranged as shown in Fig. 1. receiver I! from whence liquid refrigerant is sup- Referring now to Fig. 2, in which I have shown plied to the evaporator 20 mounted adjacent the the control'circuit for the system shown in Fig. 1, air inlet 22 of the main air conditioning cabinet reference characters l1 and I9. designate the II. The flow of refrigerant to the evaporator 20 electrical power lines and reference character Ill may be controlled by any conventional control designates a thermostat which is adapted to remeans such as the thermostatic expansion valve spond to the dry bulb temperature of the air a 24 which may be of anylconventional construcwithin the conditioned space. Whenever the temperature of the air within the conditio space indicates that conditioning is required, the thermostat 88 will close the circuit leading to the compressor motor 34, the water pump 46 and the blower motor 18 so as to initiate operation of the refrigerating system so as to cool the air. The reheat mechanism may be controlled either by the thermostat 8| or the humidostat 82. Manual switches 88 and 85 are provided for connecting one or the other of the reheat controls into the circuit as shown. In the event that the humidostat 82 is in control and the relative humidity within the conditioned space is higher than desired, the humidostat 82 will close the circuit through a solenoid coil 84. Energization of the solenoid 84 causes closing of the switches 86 and 88. Switch 86 is arranged in parallel with the thermostatic switch 88 whenever the manual switch 92 is closed whereby closing the s'witch86 starts up the cooling apparatus if the thermostat 88 has not already started up the cooling apparatus. Closing of the switch 88 causes energization of the damper operating motor 68 and the three-way solenoid valve 52.-

Energization of the damper operating motor 68 causes damper 66 to move toward its closed position. Energization of the three-way solenoid valve 52 causes the valve to direct the flow--oi water from the pipe 58 into the pipe 56 leading to the reheat coil 48.

By virtue of the above described arrangement, whenever the switch 85 is closed and the relative humidity in the conditioned space exceeds a predetermined-value, for which the humidostat 82 is set, cooling and thereafter reheating of the air will take place. Furthermore, closing of the damper 88 causes the temperature of the condenser water to increase whereby a greater amount of heat is made available for reheating the air than would be available ii. the usual amount of air were permitted to flow in countercurrent iiow'relationship to the water sprayed over the condenser. Upon opening of the circuit leading to the damper motor 68 and the solenoid valve 62, the damper 88 returns to its fully opened position and the valve 52 returns to .that position in which it directs all of the .water flowin through the pipe 58 directly into the line 54 leading to the spraying device 42. A manually operated switch 88 is provided for turning on and of! the entire system.

While I have disclosed "on" and off type of .controls for the valve 52 and the damper 66, it

is obvious that modulating controls could be used if desired. By closing the switch 88 and opening switches 85 and 82, the dry bulb thermostat 8| is substituted for the humidostat 82in the reheat control circuit. The thermostat 8| is arranged to open the circuit to the solenoid 84, whenever the dry bulb temperature in the space indicates that the-temperature in the conditioned space is already too high to warrant reheating and is adapted to close the circuit to the solenoid '84 as the indoor temperature approaches the temperature at which the thermostat 88 would shut of! the refrigerating system. By virtue ofthis arrangement reheatingtakes place only at such times when the refrigerating apparatus has excess capa city and then only it the thermostat 88 calFfor cooling.

By virtue of the dual control arrangement, the

reheat apparatus ma for example, be placed under the control of the humidostat 82 at night and under the control oi the'thermostat 8| during'the day. In this manner the system maybe used, primarily use drying system at night and which are provided with a plurality of outlets be operated by means of any conventional "day night" control clock if desired.

In Fig. 3, I have shown a modified arrangement for use in conditioning a plurality of enclosures. In this modification the refrigerant evaporator I28 and the reheat coil I38 have been arranged side by side adjacent the outlet of the conditioning cabinet II8. In this modification reference numeral I82 has been used to designate one of a plurality of rooms adapted to be supplied with conditioned air. The blower I26 withdraws air to be conditioned from the rooms through the return air duct I22 and discharges the conditioned air through a'pair of ducts I83 and I84 such as M2 and H4 shown for the room I82.

Inasmuch as all of the air flowing over the refrigerant evaporator |28 discharges into the duct I83 and all of the air flowing over the reheat coil I38 discharges into the duct |88,,it is apparent that either cooled air, heated air or a mixture of both may be supplied to each enclosure to be conditioned.

By properly proportioning the amount of cool air and heated air supplied to each enclosure, the temperature of the air in each enclosure may be closely regulated. As shown in connection with room I82, a pair of dampers I85 and I86 are provided for controlling the amount of heated air and cooled-air introduced into each enclosure. The damper I85 controls the amount of heated air introduced whereas the damper I88 controls the amount of cooled air introduced. Thesedampers are operated by means of a common damper operating motor I81 which is under the control of the room thermostat I88, the arrange- I condenser unit is similar to the evaporative condenser unit disclosed in Fig. 1. The same refer-' ence numerals have been used to designate corresponding similar parts in Figs. 1 and 3. In the modification shown in Fig. 3, the threeway valve 52 and the damper 66 may be permitted to remain in the position in which maximum heating is provided by the heating coil I38 at all times, or they may beoperated in the same manner in which these elements are operated in the modification shown in Fig. .1 in which case the control instruments 88, 8| and '82 would all be located in the one room which most closely represented the condition in each of the other rooms.

The valve 62 and damper 66 determine where the heat picked up by the evaporator I28 is to be discharged. Thus the heat may be discharged into the outside air-circulated by the fans 68 or it may be discharged into the air flowing into the duct |,84. There will be times when the climatic conditions or the type of occupancy of the enclosures is such that the amount of heat which must be added to the air for some of the enclosures will substantiallyv equal ,the amount of heat which must be removed from the air'for other of the enclosures, in which case the re-. frigerating system will be required .to operate so as-to assist in maintaining the proper conditions in each of the enclosures.

Thus the controls shown in Fig. 2 may be used in conjunction was the apparatus and con-' trols shown in Fig; 3, or as explained herein v 2,825,658 above, the three-way valve 52 and the damper 66 may be permitted to remain in the position in which maximum heating, is provided by the heating coil I30 at all times. The selection of 4 controls used and the settings of these controls would be governed by many factors including climatic conditions, bccupancy of the conditioned space and the results desired. For Purposes of ing said air, refrigerant liquefying means for supplying liquid refrigerant to said evaporator, said refrigerant liquefying means comprising a compressor and a condenser, means for spraying cooling water over said condenser, means for circulating air in thermal exchange with said condenser and said spray water, means for circulating a portion of said water through said reheat illustration, the thermostat I" may be so adiusted as to hold the damper I wide open above temperatures of 90 and fully closed at temperatures below 70. The-thermostat an may be set so as to'energize the apparatus at temperatures above 75, and a thermostat 8| may be placed I in control of the elements 52 and 68 so as to cause reheating at temperatures below 82. The above values are given solely for purposes of illustration.

While the form of embodimentpf the invention as herein disclosed,-constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that'other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In combination an evaporator, means for circulating air to be conditioned in thermal exchange with said evaporator, means for reheating said air, refrigerant liquefying means for supplying liquid refrigerant to said evaporator, said refrigerant liquefying means comprising a compressor and a condenser, means for spraying cooling water over said condenser, means for cir- I v culating air in thermal exchange with said con- Sculating airin thermal exchange with said condenser and said spraywater, means for circulating a portion of said water through said reheat means, and means responsive to the moisture content of the conditioned air controlling said reheat means.

3. In combination an evaporator, means for circulating air to be conditioned in thermal exchange with said evaporator, means for reheatmeans, humidity responsive means for controlling the flow of air over said condenser, and the flow of water to said reheat means.

4. Apparatus for conditioning air including an evaporator, compressor and an evaporative surface condenser comprising a complete refrigerating system, said evaporator cooling the air to a temperature below that desired for the conditioned air, said evaporative surface condenser including means for spraying water over the condenser, a reheater for reheating the air, said reheater forming a part of an auxiliary heat transfer system using the condenser spray water for restoring to the cooled air a portion of the heat rejected by said condenser, and means for controlling the rate of evaporation of said spray water.

5. Air conditioning apparatus for an enclosure comprising in combination, means for removing heat from air for said enclosure including an evaporator, heat exchange means for returning a portion of said heat to air for said enclosure, refrigerant liquefying means for supplying liq- 1 uid refrigerant to said evaporator, said refrigerant liquefying means comprising a compressor and a condenser, means. for spraying cooling water over said condenser, means for circulating air in thermal exchange with said condenser and said spray water,means for flowing a portion of said water throughsaid heat exchange means, and means for controlling the amount of heat returned to the'air by said heat exchange means.

6. Apparatus for conditioning air including an evaporator, compressor and an evaporative surface condenser comprising a complete refrigerating system, said evaporative surface condenser including means for spraying water over the condenser, a heater for heating air, means for flowing air to be conditioned over said evaporator and said heater in parallel, said heater forming a part of an auxiliary heat transfer system using the condenser spray water for restoring to the air a portion of the heat rejected by said condenser, and means for controlling the amount of heat restored to the air by said heater.

ROBERT R. CANDOR. 

